James van Riemsdyk of Middletown arrives in Sochi looking for gold

5:22 PM,
Feb. 10, 2014

James van Riemsdyk (right) practices with Kevin Shattenkirk in Sochi on Monday.

Written by

Kevin Tresolini
| USA TODAY Sports

James van Riemsdyk was 17 when he played on his first U.S. hockey team.

Now that he's reached the pinnacle of U.S. representation, he hopes this turns out just as well.

The Middletown product won gold with the U.S. at the 2006 under-18 team world championships. Even that experience, and subsequent national team appearances, didn't really get him thinking too far ahead, he said, although he scored 65 goals in U.S. National Team Development Program games. ...